Joe Angeles
Historic Givens Hall, home to the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design since 1932.
A lot can happen in a century.
During the 2011-12 academic year, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will host a series of events marking the centennial of its College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design as well as the 50th anniversary of the Master of Urban Design program.
On Friday and Saturday, April 1 and 2, the Sam Fox School will preview these festivities with “Architecture at 100: Architectural Education at Washington University in St. Louis,” a series of informal talks, roundtable discussions and alumni reflections.
“The idea is to explore how the culture of the school, as well as the education of the architect and urban designer, has evolved over the past 100 years,” says event organizer Peter MacKeith, associate dean of the Sam Fox School and associate professor of architecture.
“The school has always been a place of change, of intellectual and creative activity,” MacKeith says. “But it also possesses a history that allows it to look beyond issues that are merely of the moment. It is important for our students as well as for our faculty to understand that they are part of a longer historical trajectory.
“A 100-year-old school, in the American perspective, is a significant accomplishment,” MacKeith says. “There are not many schools that are older. And that presents us with responsibilities as well as with opportunities.”
Events will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, with a keynote address, titled “Landscapes of Architecture,” by distinguished Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa, a former Ruth & Norman Moore Visiting Professor of Architecture.
Events will continue at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 2. Following welcome remarks, Joan Ockman, professor of architecture at Columbia University and former director of the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, will discuss the 100th anniversary of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA).
The group — which today represents more than 250 schools and 5,000 architecture faculty across the United States and Canada — was formed in 1912 with Washington University as one of 10 charter members.
Four WUSTL deans of architecture, both former and current, will take part in a roundtable discussion examining the challenges and achievements of their respective tenures. Participants will include Dinos Michaelides, who served as dean from 1973-1993; Cynthia Weese, who served from 1993-2005; Jerry Sincoff, who served in 2005-06; and current Dean Bruce Lindsey, who was appointed in 2006. Pallasmaa will moderate.
Other highlights will include a faculty roundtable about current teaching and learning at the school; a brief history of architecture and urban design at WUSTL; and presentations by a number of distinguished alumni.
All events are free and open to the public and take place in Steinberg Hall, located near the intersection of Forsyth and Skinker boulevards.
For more information, call (314) 935-7215 or email Atkinson@samfox.wustl.edu.
“Architecture at 100: Architectural Education at Washington University in St. Louis”
Schedule of Events
Friday, April 1
6:30 p.m. Keynote Lecture
Juhani Pallasmaa, “Landscapes of Architecture”
Saturday, April 2
12 p.m. Coffee and reception
1 p.m. Welcome / Introductions
1:15 p.m. “The ACSA at 100”
Joan Ockman, Columbia University professor and editor of a forthcoming publication about the ACSA’s 100th anniversary.
1:30 p.m. “Architecture at 100, Urban Design at 50: A Brief History”
Peter MacKeith, associate dean, Sam Fox School
Eric Mumford, professor of architecture
2:15 p.m. Alumni Reflections
Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA
Gene Mackey, FAIA
George Nikolajevich, FAIA
2:30 p.m. Coffee break
2:45 p.m. “The School at 100: A Dean’s Roundtable”
Juhani Pallasmaa, moderator
Bruce Lindsey, dean of architecture, 2006-present
Dinos Michaelides, dean of architecture, 1973-1993
Jerry Sincoff, dean of architecture, 2005-06
Cynthia Weese, dean of architecture, 1993-2005
3:45 p.m. Alumni Reflections
Charles Brown
Elva Rubio
4 p.m. Coffee break
4:15 p.m. “The School at 100: A Faculty Roundtable”
Joan Ockman, moderator
Kathryn Dean, director of the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design
Paul Donnelly, the Rebecca & John Voyles Professor of Architecture
John Hoal, chair of the Master of Urban Design program
Dorothée Imbert, chair of the new Master of Landscape Architecture program
Adrian Luchini, the Raymond E. Maritz Professor of Architecture
Robert McCarter, the Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture
Heather Woofter, chair of the Master of Architecture program
5:15 p.m. “The School at 100 / The School at 5: A New Paradigm”
Carmon Colangelo, dean, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
5:30 p.m. Reception